Education Notebook

Despite the rainy weather on March 28, 46 Redland Middle School students, six teachers and eight other volunteers took part in a clean-up of the school grounds.

The group collected 41 bags of trash and 35 bags of recyclable items from around the Derwood school. Students also collected an estimated 500 to 800 pounds of trash from the nearby woods, including four barrels, benches, pipes, wood, 13 tires, fencing, 14 baseballs, signs, car batteries, car parts and a gas mask.

The clean-up effort was led by teachers Lynn Harrison and Keith Snyder. The group worked in collaboration with the Friends of Rock Creek as a part of the larger Potomac River Watershed Clean-up and the Alice Ferguson Foundation.

Good Counsel student

receives honor award

Our Lady of Good Counsel High School student Nicholas Samara has accepted an honor award from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Samara, a senior at the Olney school, is active in athletics and community service. He plans to major in communication arts at Xavier.

All incoming freshmen are evaluated for Xavier's awards and honors, according to a press release from Xavier.

National College Fair

coming to fairgrounds

The 2009 Spring Montgomery County National College Fair is coming to the Montgomery County Agricultural Center April 15–16.

The free event will be held 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 15 and 9:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 16.

Representatives from more than 300 colleges, universities and technical schools will be available to answer questions. There will also presentations about other college-related topics.

The event is sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling and will be hosted by the Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling.

The Montgomery County Agricultural Center is located at 16 Chestnut St. in Gaithersburg.

For more information, visit www.nacacnet.org/EventsTraining/

CollegeFairs/ncf/Spring/Pages/

MontgomeryCountyNCF.aspx , call 703-836-2222, ext. 155, or send an

e-mail to collegefairs@nacacnet.org or info@nacacnet.org.

Used book sale set

for April 18 at Magruder

The Col. Zadok Magruder High School PTSA will hold a used book sale 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 18 in the school's cafeteria.

Thousand of books for children, teenagers and adults will be available for purchase. Hardcover books will cost $2 and paperbacks will cost $1. Only cash will be accepted for purchases.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit students and teachers at Magruder.

High school artists who live or attend school in the 8th Congressional District are invited to submit work for the competition, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist.8) of Kensington.

The winning entry will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year and runner-up artwork will be displayed in Van Hollen's congressional offices.

A juried exhibition of approximately 80 pieces of the submitted artwork will be shown May 4-30 at The Mansion at Strathmore, located at 10701 Rockville Pike in North Bethesda.

To participate, students must complete and submit an entry form, which they can get by going to www.

vanhollen.house.gov or by calling 301-424-3501. Entry forms need to be signed by the student, a parent or guardian, and a faculty member and faxed to the Rockville district office by April 17.

Van Hollen will host reception to showcase the exhibit, honor all participants and announce awards May 4 at The Mansion at Strathmore.

For more information, call the Rockville district office at 301-424-3501 or Linda Pepper, Congressional Art Competition coordinator, at 301-657-8650 or e-mail her at pepper461@aol.com.

Kindergarten orientation

under way

Kindergarten orientation, a day to introduce parents and first-time students to school, will take place through May 22.

Orientation is open to parents and their children who will be starting kindergarten in Montgomery County public schools in the 2009–2010 school year. Children who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 can enroll in kindergarten.

Parents are asked to register children for kindergarten on the date scheduled for the elementary school that serves their neighborhood.

Parents who are not certain which elementary school serves their area should call the Montgomery County Public Schools Boundaries Office at 240-314-4710 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information about the kindergarten program, call the Division of Early Childhood Programs and Services at 301-230-0691.

Children who will turn 5 years old between Sept. 2 and Oct. 15 are eligible for consideration for the early entrance to kindergarten process. Parents who seek early entrance consideration for their children should ask about it at their home schools.

Magruder finance students seek internships

Col. Zadok Magruder High School Academy of Finance students are seeking part-time paid internship opportunities this spring and summer.

All students in the academy must complete at least 120 hours of minimum-wage work. For more information, e-mail internship coordinator Hilary Shpeen at Hilary_Shpeen@

mcpsmd.org or call 301-840-4600.

Education Notebook is compiled by Staff Writer Melissa J. Brachfeld. Items appropriate for this column should be sent to mbrachfeld@

gazette.net, by fax to 301-670-7183, or by mail to Education Notebook, The Rockville/Aspen Hill Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday for consideration for the following week's paper. Items are used on a space-available basis.